Relativistic Effects of Light in Moving Media with Extremely Low Group Velocity

TL;DR

This paper explores how light behaves in moving media with extremely low group velocities, demonstrating that such media can mimic gravitational effects like black holes, enabling laboratory analogs of astronomical phenomena.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of using ultra-slow light in moving dielectrics to simulate gravitational effects and topological phenomena on Earth.

Findings

Moving media can create effective gravitational fields for light

Vortex flows in slow-light media can mimic black hole horizons

Topological effects on light can be observed in laboratory settings

Abstract

A moving dielectric medium acts as an effective gravitational field on light. One can use media with extremely low group velocities [Lene Vestergaard Hau et al., Nature 397, 594 (1999)] to create dielectric analogs of astronomical effects on Earth. In particular, a vortex flow imprints a long-ranging topological effect on incident light and can behave like an optical black hole.